At the moment a vast area of Australia is burning. So far Canberra has escaped the fires, but we have had really bad smoke in the air for over a month; for the past week we have had the most dangerous air quality in the world. Hard to recall that just a couple of months ago we were on Moorea with air as clear and clean as it ever gets. We spent a day on one of the tours offered by the ship. It circumnavigated the island and stopped at the best scenic places. Here are 3 stops. The first row is at Belvedere Lookout, 900 m up on Mt Tohivea, the tallest of Moorea's peaks (it is 1207 m high). The road up to the lookout is one of the scariest I have ever been on, maybe because I was in a big bus instead of a small car. The road is narrow and has several hairpin bends which I would never have believed the bus could navigate. The view from the top is magnificent, looking out over the forest and the 2 large bays, Oponohu on the left and Cook's on the right. Our ship is that tiny white speck at the right side entrance to Oponohu Bay. There are a series of 6 ruined marae (temples) that the road passes close to. The bus stops at Titiroa marae, about half-way up the road. The remains are a large stone platform surrounded by a path and stone wall. I didn't have time to walk right around it, but was told that there were upright "god stones" at the other end. There are lots of wild chickens roaming the area. Later on the bus stopped at Tiki Village where there is a small model marae; I acted as gate guide while the tour group was there. Another photo stop was at Toatea lookout, above the Sofitel Ora Moorea Beach Resort. You get a good view of the coastline and lagoon from here, as well as the over-water bungalows. Tahiti can be seen on the horizon. A long day, but a good one to remember.
Labels: cruising, South Pacific, Tahiti
# posted by Bart Bear @ 7:13 pm
